2010 Scarlet Shootout–Analysis

PISCATAWAY, NJ–Last week, GMC Hoops obtained more information on what happened at the 2010 Scarlet Shootout over the weekend at Rutgers University. The GMC had six teams compete in the competition with Colonia getting all the way to the quarterfinal round before losing to Rutgers Prep. The Argonauts also defeated Monroe in the second round en route to a semifinal berth, and eventual loss to Union. Combined, the six GMC teams that competed went 13-14 with North Brunswick and Monroe leading the way.

The Monroe Falcons went 3-1 in the four games that they played. MTHS defeated Westwood in the opening round (81-45), lost to Rutgers Prep (62-56), beat Paterson Eastside in the consolation, and outlasted Mendham in triple overtime (62-61). The Purple Birds had a solid effort over the led by juniors Danny Brix (14 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, and 2.7 assists per game), Ahmid Williams (12.8 points per game and 3.5 assists per game), and Ryan Genevieve (10.5 points per game). Seniors Mike Walp (7.3 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game) and Mike Mahmoud (5.8 points per game and 2.3 assists per game) chipped in as well.

Junior Victor Sorrento, who played with a lot of hustle in the Montgomery Team Camp scrapped for 5.5 points per game, and 4.3 rebounds per game while newcomer Dillon Salva, a transfer from North Brunswick, contributed with 6.3 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per contest. Soon to be sophomore, Ryan Stolte helped out off the bench with 1.3 points per game over the four days. Monroe was nearly 50 percent from three point range alone by going 26 of 57 from beyond the arc for 46 percent. The Purple Birds averaged 65.5 points per contest in the four games played over the two days at Rutgers. Meanwhile, GMC White rival, North Brunswick went 4-2 over the two days as the Raiders did well in the consolation tournament after losing to Hillsborough in the opening round on Saturday.

NBTHS defeated Coolidge from the Washington D.C. area, Morris Hills, New Brunswick, and Trenton Central before losing to Middletown of New York. The Raiders actually reached the final of the consolation tourney before losing. Colonia won its opening round game against Bridgewater-Raritan by 18 points, and then advanced to the quarterfinals by knocking off Paterson Eastside by 9 points. In the Elite Eight game, Colonia had a seven point lead late in the first half against Rutgers Prep before soon to be senior Dave Cole injured his knee. The Argonauts took advantage by outscoring the Patriots by 15 the rest of the way to win by eight. Then, in the consolation game against Raritan, which defeated Piscataway in the opening round, C.J. Gray suffered an injury to his ankle. Both Gray and Cole sat out the rest of the event.

Bishop Ahr competed well in the shootout. In five games, the Trojans went 2-3 with an overtime loss to Bloomfield Tech, and a defeat to Trenton Central while defeating the likes of Medford Tech and Indian Hills. New Brunswick only went 1-4 with a defeat to Morris Hills in the opening round before defeating Medford Tech in the second round. The Zebras would lose their final three games including a defeat to White Division rival, North Brunswick. Piscataway lost two of three games including the opening round defeat to Raritan of Hazlet. The Chiefs also lost to Middletown of New York after defeating Matawan in the opening round. Special thanks to coaches Bob Turco of Monroe, Chris Chiera of Colonia, Dennis O’Keefe of Bishop Ahr, Antoine Allen of New Brunswick, and Eddie Breheney of North Brunswick as well as Dennis Gregory for providing all of the info on this event.